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Apple sells at a totally different pricepoint which is way off mainstream. So at least atm. they are catering a different market. Also, smart watches on the mar

Apple sells at a totally different pricepoint which is way off mainstream. So at least atm. they are catering a different market. Also, smart watches on the market may just be too ugly (including Apple's). I think there's still a lot of opportunity to partner with a major watchmaker like Swatch which owns half of the world's watch brands but doesn't have a clue about the tech.

Zombieball 11y ago
I think removing the term "watch" and braythwayt's sentiment holds. Doesn't the iPhone offer much of the pedometer features activity trackers offer? I am also uninformed and haven't read any sort of comparison. But I wonder if Apple users realize the features available in the health app?
- braythwayt 11y ago
  The phone does not currently have the heart rate function, so it’s hard to turn it into a complete health product. You need a chest strap, or a hat with heart rate function, and now you’re back to a wearable accessory for the phone. I’d guess the other way: What if Apple ends up putting a GPS and a phone in the watch? Then you buy an iPod Touch-like device as an accessory screen for the watch, instead of a watch as an accessory for the phone.
  - Swizec 11y ago
    > What if Apple ends up putting a GPS and a phone in the watch? Then I still won't be able to text, which is 90% of what most people do on a modern smartphone. That and watch videos. I wonder how many people would even notice if Apple removed the Phone app from the iPhone ... Oh and I assume taking selfies with your wrist would be hard too. I tried to position my wrist like that right now and my elbow wasn't happy.
    - braythwayt 11y ago
      It’s technically possible to text on the Watch, but mostly you text back variations of “yes,” “no,” or “ttyl.” Which is terrible. Unless you don’t want to text with someone, in which case you have an out: “I’d have replied to your question detail, but my hands were full and I could only reply on the watch."
      - Swizec 11y ago
        If you don't want to text with someone you can always wait 3 weeks then text "Sorry, I fell asleep".
        braythwayt 11y ago
        I should have replied earlier, but I feel asleep.
      - evilduck 11y ago
        I recently discovered they parse out "x or y" statements made in received messages and then make x and y quick reply options. I imagine the intelligent reply suggestions will only improve in time (analyzing prior conversation formats to predict and suggest what you might normally say anyways). Not to say it's a replacement for a real thought out response, but I send many texts as simple acknowledgments or quick decision making and a watch interface could simplify a fair amount of them.
    - mistersquid 11y ago
      One way people text from Apple Watch is by dictation (Siri). At present Apple Watch hands the audio stream to an iPhone, but some future version of the watch will likely have its own speech-to-text processing.
      - braythwayt 11y ago
        Siri actually hands it back to Apple’s servers, so the moment the watch has WiFi or LTE, it will have Siri independently of the phone.
braythwayt 11y ago
I suggest it doesn’t matter whether Apple Watch 1.0 is too expensive, too ugly, too big, too heavy, or all of the above. I suggest that what it does is send a signal to the market that watches are just like phones. Which means, that they will take over all the functions that hitherto required more portability than offered by a phone. Maybe Apple Watch 3.0 will do it. Maybe Pebble. Maybe Swatch. Maybe a company we haven’t heard of yet. But the Watch establishes that single-purpose wearables have to be extremely specialized to survive. I conjecture this drives consumers towards “safe” choices, companies they perceive to have good potential to survive the shakeout. And behind the scenes, it does the same thing to companies. So I agree that there’s opportunity to compete with Apple Watch. But I am bearish on dedicated fitness trackers.

Zombieball 11y ago

I think removing the term "watch" and braythwayt's sentiment holds. Doesn't the iPhone offer much of the pedometer features activity trackers offer? I am also uninformed and haven't read any sort of comparison. But I wonder if Apple users realize the features available in the health app?

braythwayt 11y ago
The phone does not currently have the heart rate function, so it’s hard to turn it into a complete health product. You need a chest strap, or a hat with heart rate function, and now you’re back to a wearable accessory for the phone. I’d guess the other way: What if Apple ends up putting a GPS and a phone in the watch? Then you buy an iPod Touch-like device as an accessory screen for the watch, instead of a watch as an accessory for the phone.
- Swizec 11y ago
  > What if Apple ends up putting a GPS and a phone in the watch? Then I still won't be able to text, which is 90% of what most people do on a modern smartphone. That and watch videos. I wonder how many people would even notice if Apple removed the Phone app from the iPhone ... Oh and I assume taking selfies with your wrist would be hard too. I tried to position my wrist like that right now and my elbow wasn't happy.
  - braythwayt 11y ago
    It’s technically possible to text on the Watch, but mostly you text back variations of “yes,” “no,” or “ttyl.” Which is terrible. Unless you don’t want to text with someone, in which case you have an out: “I’d have replied to your question detail, but my hands were full and I could only reply on the watch."
    - Swizec 11y ago
      If you don't want to text with someone you can always wait 3 weeks then text "Sorry, I fell asleep".
      - braythwayt 11y ago
        I should have replied earlier, but I feel asleep.
    - evilduck 11y ago
      I recently discovered they parse out "x or y" statements made in received messages and then make x and y quick reply options. I imagine the intelligent reply suggestions will only improve in time (analyzing prior conversation formats to predict and suggest what you might normally say anyways). Not to say it's a replacement for a real thought out response, but I send many texts as simple acknowledgments or quick decision making and a watch interface could simplify a fair amount of them.
  - mistersquid 11y ago
    One way people text from Apple Watch is by dictation (Siri). At present Apple Watch hands the audio stream to an iPhone, but some future version of the watch will likely have its own speech-to-text processing.
    - braythwayt 11y ago
      Siri actually hands it back to Apple’s servers, so the moment the watch has WiFi or LTE, it will have Siri independently of the phone.

braythwayt 11y ago

I suggest it doesn’t matter whether Apple Watch 1.0 is too expensive, too ugly, too big, too heavy, or all of the above. I suggest that what it does is send a signal to the market that watches are just like phones. Which means, that they will take over all the functions that hitherto required more portability than offered by a phone. Maybe Apple Watch 3.0 will do it. Maybe Pebble. Maybe Swatch. Maybe a company we haven’t heard of yet. But the Watch establishes that single-purpose wearables have to be extremely specialized to survive. I conjecture this drives consumers towards “safe” choices, companies they perceive to have good potential to survive the shakeout. And behind the scenes, it does the same thing to companies. So I agree that there’s opportunity to compete with Apple Watch. But I am bearish on dedicated fitness trackers.